"Dear Tallus,

I know that - as of late - we haven't exactly seen eye-to-eye upon a number of matters, such as when I didn't abandon my position after our former monarch demanded we participate in the Great War. I still refuse to admit that my decision was an amoral move on my part; while peace with our neighbors is all well and good, it is pointless if we just sit back and let them kill us before that day can happen. Besides - if I hadn't personally been working under the military at that time - then the task to research the Arcanum of Jasmodeus would surely have fallen upon someone else, and then we'd all be naught but a pile of cinders.

So it is once more that I must cordially rebuke your efforts to instruct your elder on how to conduct his business, and not set ablaze the accursed tome currently sitting in my study. I still fully believe that if something isn't done to force things to get better, then it will never improve as people can't dig themselves out of a pit if you don't even give them a shovel to work with. Besides, the head librarian at Dulsnik would probably have my head - on a silver platter, no less - if he discovered I wantonly destroyed an irreplaceable book from his collection.

Sincerely,
Miran Via"

Chapter 39: "Very Important Things"

Latte currently found herself kneeling over the collapsed form of Miran Via - her former guardian - sobbing heavily, the Corsinthian sage had pretty much been the only father she had ever known. Although moments earlier the man had been tethered to a rune covered pole by blazing shackles, the bindings had vanished - right along with Jasmodeus - when Jysalef lodged a sword deep into the sage's head. The pink haired girl had first tried to pull the blade out, so as to put the corpse in a more respectable condition, but quickly gave up when she discovered it was more than slightly stuck.

As the stinging tears continued to pour painfully down Latte's face, her cheeks already having turned a painfully bright red, it seemed as if everything she used to have faith in was now turned upside down. How could what she had been morbidly dreading ever since they departed Kyosem actually be true, how could the man whom had shown so much love to her - and all the other orphans - have tried to set loose a demon upon Theria? Latte had noticed that the old sage had seemed unusually agitated a few weeks before Jysalef and Terus arrived in their town, but - for the entire life of her - she could imagine nothing worth Elpsiod being turned into little more than a giant burnt out campfire pit.

Terus was currently not at Latte's side only because Reoisce'aihr had grabbed his arm to prevent the youth from running after the pink haired girl when she bolted off, to which Jysalef's apprentice was currently protesting mightily. Although the boy assuredly meant for the best, the cyan-haired priestess knew all too well just how little good words would do for someone's pain and confusion in a time of loss such as this. It was a delicate situation where not only was it impossible to make the proverbial horse drink, but where well meaning words - given too early - might also lead to it fleeing in the opposite direction of the river.

Once you began running from hope, it was very hard to stop and turn around.

Suddenly, the grieving girl heard an all too familiar voice that commandeered her attention faster than a bucket of cold water being poured on a sleeping person, "I know I have done so much lately - Latte - that has brought you nothing but pain and suffering, but I beg of you to not cry."

"Master Via?!" Latte confusedly shouted out, her face as pale as fallen snow, as she whipped her head about to and fro in an attempt to locate the source of the impossible voice she head.

"This result is never what I wished for," continued the sage's words, almost seeming as if they were coming from the girl's pocket, "I swear that I had only meant to make the world a better place for you and the other orphans, so it's far too painful now for me to have to watch you cry so."

Latte nervously shoved her hand down into her pocket - where it seemed the voice originated - and fumblingly retrieved from it the whisper ring she had been given by the man who raised her, "Master Via, is that actually you?"

"Yes, Latte, it is really me; although, at this point, I am deeply ashamed to lay claim to such a thing." resonated the Corsinthian sage's voice from the magical ring laying in the girl's palms.

Starting once more to gush forth bitter tears, Latte desperately begged the ring to make sense of everything, "Why did this all happen, why is Konik and everyone else now dead?"

There was a long moment of silence before the voice harkening from the other side of the whisper ring responded with a heavy morose sigh, "It's because I became recklessly impatient, I suddenly desired a fix so badly that I was willing to turn to darker powers to achieve my goals. The state of Corsinthia has been steadily worsening ever since the end of the great war, it seemed only a matter of time before an inevitable coup d'état led to something wholly undesirable. I just wanted a better - more secure - future for your and the other orphans, so I decided that I had no choice but to use Jasmodeus to make something that would improve everyone's lives."

"But, if I was an idiot for thinking I could find a means of hope from a source of darkness," continued Miran Via sadly, "then I was twice as foolish to believe I had the ability to control that fallen angel at all. When the former King ordered me to study that infernal book, I merely did nothing but stall and make up excuses; but the second I began reading the Arcanum for real, I became possessed during the course of my research before I conducted even a single experiment. I don't know whether or not the mythical Empire of Glein actually created any wonders before they delved too deep, but - assuming the legends are true - then their researches must have had iron wills the likes of which I can't begin to fathom."

Between the heavy sobs that would not relent, Latte loudly protested at the ring, "Sir, why didn't you tell us anything about this sooner?! If you had just given us some sort of sign that you needed help, I could have done something to break the connection before... before..."

The whisper ring responded matter-of-factly, "I'm sorry, I tried many times to break through Jasmodeus's power and say something - anything - that would have alerted everyone as to what was transpiring; but, he was simply too powerful and determined. Only once did I briefly break through his hold at all, and that's right after you left Kyosem when I told you under no circumstances did I ever want you to return home; after which, I smashed my own whisper ring with the last of my dwindling control. With Jysalef Soresh running about in circles - and the Skrandonese assassins having been alerted to where he was going next - I was forced to begin the final preparations for the summoning spell that would open the gates to hell, that demon would have made me use your blood also had you come back."

Then the voice of Miran Via shifted and became far more grimly determined, "Now I need you to listen very carefully to what I am about to say, as I have two very important things to tell you and my time is soon to run out. Firstly, you will find the Arcanum of Jasmodeus buried amongst the ash beneath my body; I need you to do what I should have done, burn it so that no one may ever again be tempted by the powers it promises."

Latte - doing her best to stop her tears, so that she wouldn't miss the sage's final words - shakily nodded, "Of course, sir, I will see to it that there isn't a single legible scrap left of that accursed thing."

"My second - far more important - request is that I need you to promise me you will keep on living, and not let this tragedy I am solely responsible for become the end of your happiness." stated Miran Via with steadily increasing urgency. "Latte, you are simply far too brilliant and unique a person to give up on life; although you don't yet realize it, your spirit is remarkably resilient. When I became that demon's thrall, through him I became aware of how you were sneaking into my study every night and pouring over all my texts; yet, despite Jasmodeus's efforts, he could never take a hold of your mind no matter how much of his book you read."

"So, please," came the final rushed plea as the voice began to rapidly fade away, "keep on living both for me - yourself - and those now around you who love your so very much."

With the whisper ring that Miran Via had given her now silent for all eternity, Latte slowly put back in her pocket the final gift from the man whom had lovingly raised her even though she was a foreigner. The girl then - after first wiping away her tears - set about to moving Miran Via's corpse to the side, so that she might find the book buried beneath him and watch it burn until every last one of its pages were little more than flecks of ash drifting away. As the girl struggled to move the dead weight of the old sage, the corpse suddenly became much lighter and she turned to see Terus - whom the priestess had let go off after Miran Via's final speech had ended - kneeling next to her helping to lift the body.

Latte looked at the boy for a moment before she smiled brightly, "Thank you, Terus."